Cafédirect Producers Ltd (CPL)
Cafédirect Producers Ltd (CPL) is a producer co-operative that represents farmers & smallholder-owned businesses in Africa, Asia & Latin America who supply Fairtrade coffee, cocoa & tea to Cafédirect.
In February 2004, Cafédirect launched the largest ever ethical public share issue. This process allowed our producer partners, consumers, employees, founders, and other public investors to own shares in the company, to gain financial dividends, and to have a say in the governance of Cafédirect.
Cafédirect Producers Limited (CPL) was created to pool the shares of producers together so as to maximise their influence in the governance of Cafédirect. The members of the CPL elect trustees to exercise their collective voting rights. They also put forward two nominees who represent CPL on Cafédirect’s Board of Directors and attend Cafédirect’s AGM. This organisational structure incorporates producers into the economic ownership of the company and ensures they are truly represented in their partnership with Cafédirect. The result is a shared vision and strategy for the future of the company.
Membership of CPL is optional and currently 34 of our 40 grower partners have signed up. Each member organisation has an equal influence in CPL regardless of the number of Cafédirect shares they own. In addition to the shares owned by participating members, CPL also holds 110,000 shares that were endowed to CPL to be owned collectively.
In 2008, Cafédirect Producers Limited (CPL) was asked by its members to strengthen its role and effectiveness in order to wholeheartedly embrace the concept of partnership and enable the producers of coffee, tea and cocoa – and their organisations – to be more influential partners within Cafédirect. In consultation with its members, the CPL leadership developed a strategy and business plan. CPL's new objective is to be recognised as true representation of all Cafédirect grower partners and, in a two way partnership approach, leverages more input and influence in Cafédirect business model. To this end, CPL decided in June 2009 to set up a Foundation in order to better achieve these objectives.